Employee Spotlight: Amy Marrich, Course Author

Course Author for OpenStack. I create the course content along with the hands-on lab environments we use in our OpenStack courses as well as helping students with their OpenStack questions. I’ve been here just over one year.

2. What did you do before this?

Before coming to LA, I was a Linux Systems Engineer at Rackspace and was assigned to the team which implemented their internal OpenStack Heat deployment.

3.What’s your favorite part of working at Linux Academy?

I enjoy helping students and getting them involved with OpenStack.

4. What do you like to do in your free time?

In my free time, I compete with my pony in Dressage and train and compete my Dalmatians in Agility and Obedience. I also spend a lot of my free time contributing to the OpenStack Community where I am a Core Reviewer for the OpenStack-Ansible project, Chair of the OpenStack Diversity Working Group, a Leader of the Women of OpenStack group, and hopefully a member of the User Committee after the next elections.

5. Favorite food?

Yellowtail snapper from Rick’s Blue Heaven down in Key West. Ok, almost any fresh fish from anywhere in Key West…

7. What’s something you’re really excited about right now (not work related)?

I’d say the stuff going on in the OpenStack community, but that’s kind of work-related. So I’ll go with some upcoming training opportunities I have with the pony, you should never stop learning and striving to be better and the more people you can work with the more insight you can receive.

8. What do you like to collect?

Dalmatians and ponies?:) Or maybe just equipment for said dalmatians and ponies…

9. If you could have any superpower, what would it be, and why?

Cloning myself. There’s just not enough time in the day to do everything.

10. You’re a new addition to the crayon box, what color would you be and why?

Bottle Green, it’s this really cool color of green I’ve seen and I really like it. It’s a shade darker than a kelly green but not quite a hunter green.

3) Put hand on door. Wait for dog to either sit or lie down, and wait until the door is opened and they’re told they can leave. Close [the] door and wait again until dog sits/lays down if they don’t wait for release. Keep repeating! Reward with cookie in crate for [a] good wait before release.
4) Rinse and repeat until dog loves going in for cookie and waiting to be released:)

5) Have fun with your dog!

12. If you could interview one person (dead or alive), who would it be?

Paul McCartney, I’m just a really big Beatles fan.

13. What’s one thing on your bucket list?

Horseback riding in Ireland or Germany… Maybe Dressage Nationals someday if I can qualify.

14. Tell us a little bit about Women of OpenStack and your involvement with it.

The Women of OpenStack is part of the OpenStack community made up of women from all over the community from marketing, operators, developers, etc., as well as male allies. The group was formed to get more women involved and to help mentor newcomers and increase the number of women in leadership roles. All activities are open to everyone, including the mentoring program and the Lunch and Learns I do at the OpenStack summits. The group differs from the Diversity Working Group in that in OpenStack diversity covers not just gender, but nationality, religion, ethnicity, and so on.

15. Give us a quick glimpse of your latest course.

My last course released was for the Mirantis OpenStack Certification OCM100 exam, though I did throw in the information needed to take and pass the OCM50 certification so its a two-for-one deal. 🙂 So if you’re looking to pass either of those certifications that’s the course for you. I’m currently working on two refreshes, the first is an update for the Red Hat System Administrator on OpenStack certification and installing OpenStack Pike on Ubuntu.